No more winter ball for Roger Bernadina this year. The outfielder, who made his Major League debut this year for the WASHINGTON NATIONALS, strained a calf a couple of weeks ago, playing for BRAVOS DE MARGARITA of the Venezuelan Winter League (VWL). He received treatment by the team afterwards, but returned home to the Netherlands on Sunday to get some more rest. His agent Storm Kirschenbaum said to MLB.com that he will be ready for Spring Training.
Bernadina batted .175 (OBP .250/SLG .275) with three runs and a RBI in eleven games for the BRAVOS in the VWL. During the summer he split time with the Double A, Triple A and Major League teams of the NATS. He had a batting average of .211 (.294/.250) during 26 big league games, scoring ten times. In the minors he combined to hit .335 (.400/.490) with nine homeruns, ten triples, 24 doubles, 80 runs scored and 54 RBIs for HARRISBURG and COLUMBUS. He also stole 41 bases in 120 games.
His future in Washington is uncertain, as the NATIONALS were already packed with outfielder and even added another one a few days ago, when they traded for Josh Willingham from the FLORIDA MARLINS. Besides Willingham and Bernadina, Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, Austin Kearns, Wily Mo Pena and Willie Harris are also on the roster to play the outfield. However the offseason is still in the early stages, so a few changes will be made in the coming weeks.